"On a war footing" in the face of the surge of Omicron cases, British hospitals are working to open thousands of temporary beds, without yet knowing what the scale of the wave will be in intensive care units.
The United Kingdom, which already deplores nearly 148,500 deaths from the pandemic, records daily Covid-19 contamination records (more than 189,000 in 24 hours Thursday).
Even if the authorities stress for the moment that the Omicron variant seems to cause forms less severe than the Delta, the number of patients hospitalized with the Covid-19 approached 12,000 Thursday, for the first time since the beginning of March.
To be prepared for the "worst scenario", the national health service, the NHS, announced Thursday the construction of temporary structures to accommodate each a hundred patients in eight English hospitals, supposed to be operational as of this week.
Hospitals were also asked to identify "spaces such as gymnasiums or education centers that can be converted to accommodate patients" with a view to creating up to 4,000 beds.
"We cannot wait to know to act"
"The NHS is now on a war footing," assured the medical director of the health service, Stephen Powis, while saying "hope" that these structures are not used.
"We do not yet know exactly how many people who have contracted the virus will need hospital treatment, but given the number of infections, we cannot wait to know to act," he explained.
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During the first wave, the NHS had set up huge field hospitals in conference centers or stadiums but these structures had been little used, in particular due to the lack of specialized staff.
This time, he chooses smaller structures in the immediate vicinity of hospitals.
Unlike authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Boris Johnson's government has decided not to impose further restrictions until the New Year in England.
Leaving pubs and nightclubs open and simply calling for caution during the holidays, he accelerated the vaccine booster campaign, a third dose having been administered to more than 58% of those over 12 years old.
In a New Year's speech broadcast by his services, the Conservative leader said he had achieved the official goal of offering a booster dose to all adults before the end of December.
Getting vaccinated "easier" than losing weight
Stressing that the current situation was "incomparably better than last year" thanks to vaccination, he once again encouraged the population to be vaccinated: a resolution "much easier to keep than losing weight or keeping a journal" , according to him.
Part of the admissions measured in the recent increase is also explained by the number of patients who arrived for reasons other than Covid-19 but tested positive.
These cases are multiplying given the huge number of infected.
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Immunologist John Bell, of the University of Oxford, put the threat to the BBC into perspective, stressing the benefits of vaccination: “The horrific scenes of a year ago (intensive care units full, many premature deaths) are now a thing of the past ”.
But scientists fear a major wave in hospitals despite everything due to the large number of contaminations.
And the situation has deteriorated in recent days, especially in London, even if we are far from the peaks of last winter (nearly 40,000 patients in hospital).